common dolphins

Didn’t I say yesterday that dull windy conditions are usually way better for wildlife spotting than a sunny warm day when the wind is blowing from the east? We had two Ocean Discovery tours today and that statement was completely vindicated by fab sightings on both. This morning we had a great encounter with another…

Back out on the water today after and extremely windy week. We couldn’t do the first five hour of the season as planned, but we were able to get out for a 3 hour Ocean Discovery, and we’re very glad we did. As often happens after strong westerly wind, there was lots of life about,…

We had an Ocean Discovery trip followed by a Discovery Voyage trip today. Despite being at low tide when the seals should have been hauled out on the rocks, it was pretty quiet this morning. There are a staggering number of pot buoys round the island at the moment, so a lot of fishing effort….

It was another mirror calm day and we had common dolphins on all three trips. The first of these was a three hour Ocean Discovery, when we saw multiple pods including mums with some very small calves. We were extra careful around them for this reason, stopping still and allowing them to come to us….

The water was like silk today – we have rarely seen it so calm. Heading south along the coast our plan was vindicated when we met a pod of Risso’s dolphins heading up into the bay. This was based their movements yesterday – Risso’s dolphins can sometimes be predictable! They swam past us fairly close…

All Cards It MIGHT have been the end of the season today, however we’re not sure yet! It started very mizzly and murky but cleared up ever so slowly and the sun came out for the afternoon trip. This morning we found some common dolphins which gave everyone a lovely encounter as we sailed quietly…

We had a Discovery Voyage trip this morning which is quite late in the year for us to be running this four hour trip. It was a cracker of a morning, starting clear and calm with a hint of low sunshine. Quite soon after leaving the harbour we started picking up fins in the distance,…

We had another lovely day today. Bright sunshine and calm seas allowed us to search offshore. In the morning we found lots of different groups of harbour porpoises and had some lovely interactions in the calm conditions. We also saw a variety of seabirds including many arctic skuas, who were harassing kittiwakes for their catch….

Though grey and choppy, conditions were far better than expected today and we had a great couple of trips. This morning there were eight seals hauled out – it’s been a popular spot for them there lately. We then headed a long way south and found two groups of common dolphins feeding with just a…

It was a sunny breezy day today and we had two Ocean Discovery trips. While the swell was reasonably chunky again, the south westerly breeze gave us a great windy for sailing especially in the afternoon. On both trips we saw several grey seals around the island, both in the water and hauled out on…